Books › British Violin Makers: A Biographical Dictionary of British Makers of Stringed Instruments and Bows and a Critical Description of Their Work, 1920 › scan 301
Scan 301
British Violin Makers: A Biographical Dictionary of British Makers of Stringed Instruments and Bows and a Critical Description of Their Work, 1920
6 lines. Read by computer on 29 August 2026. Printed page 243. See the scan on archive.org.
1a "Tubbs" at first: there is something about the "feel" of it (as the expression goes) which puzzles him, and he loses, or imagines that he loses, perfect control over the movements of his bow arm. When I read (or heard some artist or other remark) something to this effect years ago I thought it could hardly be possible, but when I tried the experiment for myself I found it was possible enough. The fact is, the balance of a Tubbs bow is rather different from that of any other bow, and therefore affects the muscular action of the arm differently.
3But there is not the slightest doubt about it, the balance of a "Tubbs" is scientifically arranged—that is to say, it is the correct balance for an arm of good average strength, and whose muscles have developed normally. Mr. Tubbs makes his bows on the principle of proportion and balance laid down by the late W. S. B. Woolhouse, the eminent mathematician and well-known musical enthusiast, who held that the primary essential of a perfect bow is that its weight and proportions (diameters) are so arranged that the stick vibrates with absolute uniformity throughout its whole length. Woolhouse's contribution to the science of bow making is very valuable, but I am rather inclined to think that it tended to obscure the importance of another great factor in the making of a good bow, viz. the putting in of the "spring" or cambre. To determine the depth and sweep of the curve is a much more difficult problem than to determine and arrange the graduation of diameters. A gauge will help to obtain the correct proportions, but the eye and the feeling of resistance alone must fix upon the quantity and sweep of the curve.
5Mr. Tubbs was assisted for many years by his son Alfred, a very skilful workman and an excellent repairer, who died in November, 1912. He has no assistant now, and is therefore not able to make many new bows, and he is obliged to curtail the amount of repairs he undertakes. He obtained a gold medal for an exhibit of bows at the Inventions Exhibition, London, 1885.
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